Tabletop teaching device

ABSTRACT

A tabletop teaching device may include a box having an interior housing, a top and a floor. The box may include within the interior housing, at least one printout of a scene placed on the floor of the box, at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene, and at least one miniature item placed above the at least one printout of a grid. A transparent top may cover the top of the box. A cover may be placed under the at least one miniature item and overlay the at least one printout of the grid.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61/863,805, filed Aug. 8, 2013, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to police teaching and, more particularly, to a device that helps police teach investigations.

Crime scenes, traffic investigations and incident reports are difficult, if not impossible, to conduct inside a classroom. This becomes especially true if the class is online. Currently, products are software based and do not teach realistic crime scene photographing and sketching techniques. In addition, other products do not allow for the photograph of the scene to be compared directly to the sketch of the scene for accuracy. Other products require officers to transform their sketches into electronic diagrams and are only two dimensional. Some colleges may purchase lab equipment and set up real crime scenes at the school. Lab equipment is costly and not always practical, especially for online courses.

As can be seen, there is a need for a teaching assisting device that may provide police scenes with three dimensional items that a police officer may come upon in the field.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a tabletop teaching device comprises: a box having an interior housing and a floor; at least one printout of a scene placed on the floor of the box; at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene; and at least one miniature item placed above the at least one printout of a grid.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with parts broken away;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of printed graphics of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an alternate set of printed graphics of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of clear overlays with grids of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a collection of assets of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an additional collection of assets of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a tabletop teaching device that may include a box having an interior housing, a top and a floor. The box may include within the interior housing, at least one printout of a scene placed on the floor of the box, at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene, and at least one miniature item placed above the at least one printout of a grid. A transparent top may cover the top of the box. A cover may be placed under the at least one miniature item and overlay the at least one printout of the grid.

As is illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7, the tabletop teaching device 10 may include a box 12. The box 12 may have an interior housing 13, a top 25 and a floor 18. Placed along the floor 18 of the box 12 may be at least one printout of a scene 19. The at least one printout of a scene 19 may be an indoor scene 26 or an outdoor scene 20 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The indoor scene 26 may be from a living room, a garage, a bedroom or the like. The outdoor scene 20 may be a one way road, a two lane highway, or the like. Placed above the at least one printout of a scene 19 may be at least one printout of a grid 22. The at least one printout of a grid 22 may come in many different grid sizes depending on the scene that is being represented in the tabletop teaching device 10. In certain embodiments, a cover 23 may be placed over the at least one printout of the grid 22. In alternate embodiments, the at least one printout of a grid 22 may be made with a cover 23 permanently overlaid. The cover 23 may be made from a material that may be easily washed such as vinyl and the like.

In certain embodiments, at least one miniature item 24 may be placed above the at least one printout of a grid 22. In certain embodiments, the at least one miniature item 24 may be placed over the cover 23. The at least one miniature item 24 may create a police scene. Police scenes may be photographed and sketched. With the at least one printout of a grid 22, various measurements may be obtained and calculations may be performed. In addition, after one student photographs and sketches and takes measurements, the scene may be disassembled and afterwards, a second student may recreate the original scene based on the data provided by the first student. Incomplete scenes may also be set up and students may demonstrate proper positioning. The printout of the scene 19, the printout of a grid 22, the cover 23 and the miniature items 24 all may be within the interior housing 13 of the box 12. In certain embodiments, a transparent top 14 may be attached to the top 25 of the box 12. In certain embodiments, a fastener 32 may be used to keep the transparent top 14 on the box 12. The fastener 32 may be a latch, such as a string latch 16 or the like.

In certain embodiments, the at least one miniature item 24 may be an individual in multiple potential positions such as standing, lying down and the like. The at least one miniature item 24 may include a vehicle, multiple vehicles, potential weapons such as guns, knives and the like. The at least one miniature item 24 may include objects that may be around a potential victim such as a phone, an digital music player, animals, documents, tools and the like. The at least one miniature item 24 may include items found indoors or on a street such as stop signs, wire poles, cones and the like. The miniature items 24 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be included, but are not limited to these items.

A method of using the device may include the following: having a student photograph and sketch the crime and crash scenes created using the box, the at least one printout of a scene placed on the floor of the box, the at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene, and the at least one miniature item placed above the at least one printout of a grid. The student may take accurate measurements, set up felony stops, mark crime scene evidence, photograph and sketch the scene, and conduct calculations. Calculations may be made such as determining distances and angles between miniature items, vehicle speed via skid mark analysis, blood splatter analysis, and the like, from the tabletop teaching device. The information collected may be compared directly to a police report the student may write. By having the student take measurements from fixed points, the student may be learning real world police applications. The student may have to obtain all the necessary information that may be required in a police report. Students may obtain all of the information that actual officers would need to obtain in the field. In addition, students may demonstrate police actions such as the shooting of a deer, by positioning miniature people and items. The information collected may be compared to the student's sketch in a firearms report. In certain embodiments, the tabletop teaching device may be applied to other fields such as firefighting training, applied mathematics, or photographing.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A tabletop teaching device comprising: a box having an interior housing, a top and a floor; at least one printout of a scene placed on the floor of the box; at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene; and at least one miniature item placed above the at least one printout of a grid.
 2. The tabletop teaching device of claim 1, further comprising a transparent top covering the box.
 3. The tabletop teaching device of claim 2, further comprising a fastener removably attaching the transparent top to the box.
 4. The tabletop teaching device of claim 3, wherein the fastener comprises a latch.
 5. The tabletop teaching device of claim 3, wherein the fastener comprises a string latch.
 6. The tabletop teaching device of claim 1, wherein a cover permanently overlays the at least one printout of a grid.
 7. The tabletop teaching device of claim 1, further comprising a cover placed under the at least one miniature item and overlaying the at least one printout of the grid.
 8. The tabletop teaching device of claim 6, wherein the cover is made from vinyl.
 9. A method for training police procedure comprising: providing a representation of a crime scene, wherein the representation of a crime scene comprises at least one printout of a scene, and at least one printout of a grid placed over the at least one printout of a scene; orienting at least one miniature item above the at least one printout of a grid; calculating distances along the dimensions of the at least one printout of a grid between the at least one miniature item and the at least one printout of a scene; and comparing the calculations to a student's police report. 